His Majesty King Peter II
(06. September 1923. – 3. November 1970)
His Majesty King Peter II was born in Belgrade on September 6, 1923. He was King of Yugoslavia (1934—1970), the first son of Knightly King Alexander I the Unifier and Queen Maria.
He was born in the Royal Palace in Belgrade at two fifty-five in the morning on September 6, 1923. At the King’s request, his birth was first announced by the ringing of bells from the King’s church at Oplenac. The event was known in Belgrade between 4 and 5 o’clock the same morning, by the ringing of church bells and a salute of 101 cannon shots from the fortress. He was symbolically named Stefan. At his baptism on October 21, he received the name Peter, his godfather being King George V of Britain, represented by his son Albert, Duke of York (the future King George VI), and the Duchess’ wife Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.
For the baptism, water was ordered from rivers after which they were named – Danube, Sava, Drava, Vardar, Bregalnica, as well as from the Adriatic Sea.
After his basic education at the Court, he attended Sandroyd School in England – he arrived in London on September 19, 1934, but had to return after the assassination of his father – arriving in Belgrade on October 13, welcomed by a large number of citizens. At the time of his father’s assassination in 1934, Peter was a minor so the royal authority was transferred to a Regency Council appointed by Knightly King Alexander, headed by Prince Regent Paul, with members Ivo Perović and Radenko Stanković.
On March 27, 1941, a military coup took place, the Regency Council and the Tripartite Pact were overthrown, and King Peter II was declared of age and immediately assumed power. He ruled the country for only 19 days, since on April 14, on the suggestion of the prime minister, army general Dušan Simović, he was taken into exile with only personal belongings following the invasion by the Axis powers, so he would not be captured and become a tool in the hands of the occupiers. He immediately supported the unyielding officers of the Royal Army in the Homeland under the command of Colonel (later General) Draža Mihailović and actively participated in directing the war.
He repeatedly attempted to return to the homeland during the war and personally lead operations, including plans for aircraft hijacking and parachuting over insurgent territory, but all attempts were thwarted by the British government.
King Peter II married Greek Princess Alexandra on March 20, 1944, during the war, which caused mixed reactions in the public, while General Draža Mihailović strongly supported the King’s intentions, and in June and July of 1943, he organised the collection of signatures from Yugoslav citizens who agreed with the king’s decision.
King Peter’s II best man was British King George VI.
After the monarchy was illegally abolished by a communist decision on November 29, 1945, the King was denied return to the country and his property was confiscated. He continued to fight for his homeland in exile for the rest of his life and gathered citizens who had fled the communist terror. He never abdicated or renounced the throne. His only son, Crown Prince Alexander, was born on July 17, 1945, in London at the Claridge’s Hotel on Yugoslav extraterritoriality.
He passed away in 1970 and was buried in Libertyville, USA. He was the only monarch to rest on American soil. Through the great efforts of his son, his remains were transferred in 2013 to the endowment of the Royal Family, the Church of Saint George on Oplenac, thus fulfilling the vow of King Peter I that all Karađorđevićs should rest in the heart of Šumadija that gave them birth.